Department for Transport

Railways: Overcrowding

Lord Bradshaw: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking toimprove the overcrowding on trains operating between the Thames Valley and the Midlands.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: CrossCountry has increased the number of services on this route as part of its timetable re-organisation in May 2023, although some trains have become busier as a result.We expect CrossCountry to monitor this and seek opportunities to mitigate it in future. The Department is working on a new contract for CrossCountry. Subject to demonstrating an appropriate business case, the intention is that this will facilitate increased capacity on CrossCountry routes in future.

Department of Health and Social Care

Fractures: Health Services

Baroness Quin: To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Government of Wales about its commitment to provide 100 per cent population coverage of Fracture Liaison Services by September 2024; and what plans they have tointroducea similar commitment for England.

Lord Markham: The Department regularly discusses health matters with the Welsh Government and other devolved administrations. The Department continues to work with NHS England on the consideration and implementation of musculoskeletal policy, including Fracture Liaison Services.

Untreated Milk: UK Internal Trade

Lord Patten: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Markham (HL8662) on 3 July,whethersuch English Raw Drinking Milk, together with unpasteurised cheddar cheese and whey butter, can be sold from England into (1) Northern Ireland, (2) Scotland, and (3) Wales.

Lord Markham: English Raw Drinking Milk (RDM), unpasteurised cheddar cheese and whey butter can be sold from England into Northern Ireland and Wales. English unpasteurised cheddar cheese and whey butter may be sold into Scotland, however, Scotland has prohibited the sale of RDM since 1983.

Department for Education

Children: Nutrition

Lord Boateng: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the contribution of nutrition to children's educational attainment.

Lord Boateng: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of children in schools who are not in receipt of nutritious meals.

Lord Boateng: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the numbers of food banks in schools; and what guidance they have issued to school governors regarding children having access to at least one nutritious meal a day.

Baroness Barran: The government supports the provision of nutritious food in schools to enable pupils to be well nourished, develop healthy eating habits and to concentrate in school. The Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014 require schools to provide all children with healthy food and drink options, and to make sure children get the energy and nutrition they need across the school day. The regulations restrict foods high in fat, salt and sugar, as well as low quality reformed or reconstituted foods.Governors have a responsibility to ensure compliance with the standards and should appropriately challenge the head teacher and school leaders to ensure the school is meeting its obligations. Departmental advice and guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/standards-for-school-food-in-england, and: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-food-standards-resources-for-schools/allergy-guidance-for-schools.The provision of free school meals (FSM) to children who are eligible for them is of the utmost importance to this government. The greatest ever proportion of school children, over one third, are now provided with free school meals. Around 2 million pupils are claiming benefits-related FSM. In addition, almost 1.3 million infants are supported through the universal infant free school meal policy. Free meals are also available to disadvantaged young people in further education. ​

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Poultry: Antibiotics

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they haveto ban the use of fluoroquinolone antibiotics for prophylactic and metaphylactic use in British poultry farming, with a view to limiting antimicrobial resistance.

Lord Benyon: The UK Government is committed to reducing unnecessary use of antibiotics in animals, while safeguarding animal welfare. It has been our position for many years that we do not support the routine or predictable use of antibiotics, including where antibiotics are used to compensate for inadequate farming practices. This applies to all types of antibiotic use (i.e those prescribed for treatment, metaphylactic purposes and for prophylactic purposes) because any antibiotic use may lead to an increased risk of resistance. The Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 are currently under review and the UK Government’s proposed new legal restrictions will prohibit antibiotic prophylaxis, in all but exceptional circumstances, in order to reduce unnecessary antibiotic use while also protecting animal welfare, and allowing changes to prescribing practices to be made sustainably. A public consultation on the proposed changes was held earlier this year, feedback is currently being analysed and considered, and a government response will be published in due course. Highest Priority Critically Important Antibiotics for human use (which include fluoroquinolones) should only be used in animals as a last resort when no other antibiotics could be clinically effective and, wherever possible, based on antimicrobial susceptibility testing. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate works closely with the British Poultry Council (BPC), an industry group which represents 90% of the meat poultry sector in the UK, on its antimicrobial stewardship efforts to replace, reduce and refine antibiotic use, by supporting good animal husbandry, hygiene and stockmanship. The BPC has a requirement that fluoroquinolones are only used as a last resort after alternative options have been explored. These actions have led to a 96% reduction in fluroquinolone use in meat poultry between 2014 and 2021, with fluoroquinolones representing just 0.3% of total antibiotic use in 2021. Furthermore, when considering laying hens, antibiotic use data collected by the British Egg Industry Council, and representing 90% of the industry, has demonstrated no fluoroquinolone use since 2017.

Cabinet Office

List of Ministerial Responsibilities

Lord Norton of Louth: To ask His Majesty's Government when they next plan to publish the list of ministerial responsibilities.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: An updated List of Ministerial Responsibilities will be published before the summer recess.

Intelligence and Security Committee: Disclosure of Information

Lord Tyrie: To ask His Majesty's Government what protection is afforded by the relevant agencies to those disclosing information to the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament under whistleblowing arrangements as recommended by the Committee's Annual Report 2018–2019.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: It is vital for trust and integrity within the security and intelligence services that all employees are able to report wrongdoing and to do so in confidence. There are appropriate policies in place should members of staff in the relevant services wish to report their concerns and a number of internal and external routes available for whistle-blowing, one of which is through the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament, but all of which the Government considers to be safe and effective.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Elections: Artificial Intelligence

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect upcoming UK elections from being influenced by AI-driven content.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: It is, and will always be, an absolute priority to protect our democratic and electoral processes. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology's Counter Disinformation Unit responds to periods of acute disinformation risk, including UK elections. The Unit does this by identifying harmful false narratives and working closely with the major social media platforms to encourage them to swiftly remove disinformation and coordinated inauthentic or manipulated behaviour, as per their Terms of Service.The Elections Act 2022 introduced one of the most comprehensive 'digital imprint' regimes that operates in the word today. This new regime, once commenced, will increase the transparency of digital political campaigning; empowering citizens to make informed decisions on who is promoting political material online and on whose behalf.

Renewable Energy: Planning Permission

Lord Jackson of Peterborough: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, if any, to encourage local planning authorities to expedite determination of planning applications for renewable energy projects seeking to connect to local Distribution Network Operators.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is clear that when determining planning applications for renewable energy projects, local planning authorities should approve the application if its impacts are (or can be made) acceptable. As part of our proposed changes to the planning system, and as committed to in the Net Zero Strategy, we intend to do a fuller review of national planning policy. Our NPPF also encourages pre-application engagement between all parties.

Buildings: Solar Power

Lord Taylor of Goss Moor: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to require all suitably orientated roofs on new buildings, including domestic properties, to be fitted with solar photovoltaic panels.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: The Building Regulations continue to set a performance-based approach. This means that our approach to achieving higher standards remains technology-neutral, to provide developers with the flexibility to choose the most appropriate and cost-effective solutions for their site.